Kuan, affectionately known as "Ah Gwan" (阿關), was born in Macau and graduated from Yuet Wah College (粵華中學) there.

Thinking that today's political parties are insufficient to achieve this aim, he helped found the Civic Party (公民黨), drawings its members from Legco legislators of the Article 45 Concern Group.

However, he caused controversy whilst speaking on Commercial Radio on 1 April 2006.

On the topic of the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989, he said that focusing on the still-controversial event would adversely affect democratic development in Hong Kong, which should come first.

This view contrasts with those of most in the pro-democratic camp, and drawing criticism from the more radical Leung Kwok Hung (梁國雄), a.k.a.